We'll Watch the Sunset - Peeta Mellark x Reader Story

Chapter 5 - The Interviews

Four days had passed since the Tribute Parade, which was when all the tributes would receive training in multiple areas of survival skills.

Meanwhile, Gale and I were hunting even more in the mornings to provide for three different families. Gale had the most out of all of us, with three younger siblings, his mother and himself. Due to the fact that Katniss wasn't here to hunt with us, we gathered more supplies to make additional traps. We would spend a couple more hours out there than usual, searching for berries and other objects and supplies other than game to be able to sell and trade. 

Tonight was the interviews, but a better word for it would be a performance. A performance to get people to feel sorry for you in a competition to get sponsors.

I settled down with my mom, Axel having gone to bed early due to being ill, and I snuggled into her side as the interviews began. Most I could not stand, while others I couldn't help but feel sorry for. 

The careers, such as Cato and Marvel were very confident in their abilities to win this thing, probably thinking that they had already won. However Rue looked so small on that stage.

Caeser was speaking to more to Rue than the audience, not getting them involved as much in her interview than he did with the others, and while a lot of the tributes were very vocal and trying to butter up the audience as much as possible, Rue would keep her eyes fixed on her hands, occasionally glancing up at Caeser when he was talking to her, ignoring the audience due to just how many people were there watching her.

"You had a little catchphrase that you told me backstage," Caeser spoke, "I was very impressed with it. Could you repeat it for the audience?"

Rue continued to look at her hands, "Well, if they can't catch me, they can't kill me."

The audience awed at her, while my mother sighed, "That poor girl."

I nodded in agreement, "She reminds me of Prim."

Mom hummed in agreement as we watched the rest of Rue's interviews, before watching Thresh, who didn't talk that much. 

"From District 12... You know her as the girl on fire! Where we know her as the lovely Katniss Everdeen!" Caeser introduced Katniss, welcoming her to the stage as she looked around like a deer caught in headlines, and as she sat down, Caeser asked a question which she obviously didn't hear, too nervous from large crowds and loud sounds.

"What?"

Her confusion made the audience laugh, while I just scoffed at their obliviousness to how nerve-wracking this must be for the majority of the tributes. 

"I think someone's a little nervous," Caeser commented before repeating himself, "I said that was quite an entrance that you've made at the Tribute's parade the other day. Do you want to tell us about it?"

Katniss tried to find the words, but by the looks of it just decided to tell the truth about how she felt about it, "Well, I was just hoping that I wouldn't burned to death."

"When you came out of that chariot, I have to say my heart... stopped. Did any of you experience this as well?" He asked the audience, "My heart stopped."

"So did mine," Katniss stated, earning some laughs.

Once the chatter had died down, Caeser turned back to Katniss, "Now tell me about the flames. Were they real?"

"Yes," Katniss told him, before looking at something in the crowd, as if searching for someone.

"What's she looking for?" I asked, not really to be answered, just wondering out loud.

"In fact I'm wearing them today. Would you like to see?"

While the crowd made noises of excitement, Caeser was more hesitant, although he probably wanted to see as well, "Wait, wait, wait. Is it safe?"

Once Katniss assured him that it was perfectly fine, he turned to the audience, "What do you think folks?"

The crowd cheered even louder, "I think that's a yes!"

So then Katniss stood up, taking center stage and began to twirl, the bottom of her dress flying out as flames danced around the crimson and orange fabric, which looked absolutely amazing.

"She looks beautiful," Mom commented, and I agreed.

"Cinna is such a brilliant designer, smart too," I though back to the parade outfits, "I wonder how he does it."

I heard Axel call out for me upstairs, and I hurried upstairs, wanting to check if he was okay.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Can you tuck me in?" He asked, obviously having gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom and seemingly never able to go to sleep if his older sister doesn't put him to bed.

I quickly tucked the sheets in around him, pulling them up over his chest and kissing his forehead, "Goodnight."

Making my way back downstairs after blowing out the remaining candles that were still lit in our shared room, I sat back down, curling into Mom's side again asking her what I had missed.

"Just Caeser asking about Prim," She stated, putting her arm around my shoulders, "Look who's on now."

I focused on the screen after sorting out the worn down blanket covering my legs, seeing Peeta on the screen, who had that cheeky grin on his face as he bantered back and forth with Caeser like a well-rehearsed comedy. Some of their interactions made me smile to myself.

After talking about the showers in the Capitol and what they smell like, Caeser asked him another question, "Lovely, So Peeta... tell me. Is there a special girl back home?"

I thought that perhaps this might answer my question that has been bugging me since our final goodbye after he never told me if he felt the same if he liked me back. I knew there was more important things to be fretting over, but my brain wouldn't let me forget it.

"No, not really," Peeta chuckled slightly.

"No? I don't believe it for a second. Look at that face. Handsome man like you, Peeta," Caeser replied, and I couldn't help but agree that he had a handsome face, "Tell me."

"Well, there is a... There's this one girl that I had a crush on forever," Peeta's admission got my hopes up, but I was confused by his next statement, "But I don't think she actually recognize me until the reaping."

"Well... I'll tell you what Peeta. You go out there... and you win this thing. And when you get home, she'll have to go out with you," Caeser advised him, "Right folks?"

"Thanks but I uh... I don't think winnings gonna help me at all."

"And why not?"

"Because she came here with me."

My mouth fell open, and something changed within me, because while my question should've been answered, it still felt like it was still as much of a mystery as it had before the interview, because his actions when we said goodbye and his words didn't correlate in my mind. But maybe my brain was just overthinking it and should just realize that he didn't like me.

But it wouldn't, and neither did my heart.

Edited: 24/10/22

Note: This chapter was completely rewritten due to the old one having multiple POVs which I didn't like.